Mineral Mondays #82 - No Rocks For You!

Yes, it's a Tuesday, but I have a good excuse. Yesterday I was invited to look at an incredible mineral & artifact collection that took me all evening to comb through. But, more on that later.

I spent Saturday and Sunday out in the desert and mountains trying to collect minerals, specifically Sunday. I was headed to one of my favorite places to collect, Lone Pine, CA. Home to Mt. Whitney (Highest Mtn. In the Contiguous United States). Lone Pine is also home to a plethora of movies that were filmed in the Alabama Hills, boulders of granite that have a very unique look. From Westerns to Star Trek, the film history is so long and large there is even a museum in Lone Pine dedicated to the films made there.

Anyway, I was in Lone Pine to collect amazonite & beryl var. aquamarine. When I arrived just before 7am to the turn off, there was a sign that blocked the road which said road closed. I know this area well and had noticed Owens Lake was more full of water than I had ever seen in almost 20 years of visiting the area. Owens lake is fed by Owens river which runs from Bishop, CA, 50 miles north, to Owens Lake. The road to the beryl locality runs right over the river, or in this case the river ran right over the road.

So, knowing the area I knew three other ways to the locality I was trying to get to. The first was a crossing about 5 miles up the road. So off I went.

Closed!

Ok, I thought, there is another road about 10 miles north that goes to the Reward Mine. When I go there, same thing.

This time I walked down to the crossing. Looking back at where I parked.

The puddle looked totally fine, just a puddle.

When I got to that puddle I could see into it, about 2-3' of the road had been ripped up and that puddle was deep!

I wouldn't be crossing.

It was only about 8am and I wasn't ready to give up yet though. So I turned around and drove about 35 miles south to the junction to Death Valley. Then I would swing back up on the opposite side of the lake.

Hazurei!(lost in Japanese)

I took the hint that I wouldn't or shouldn't go to my beryl spot. I turned around and made my way back to Orange County. All was not lost though. When I got back into town I got a call to come look at a collection on Monday. Getting the opportunity to look at a collection for sale is a huge opportunity in the mineral world. Many old timers are passing away these days after spending golden years of mineral collecting in the US. That often means rare, fantastic specimens that have been hidden away for decades.

This was my first opportunity to see and buy a collection. I knew however it was going to be big and there was no way I could afford it so I made sure to bring a larger dealer friend of mine.

When we arrived we were quite surprised at just how big and thorough the collection was. On the first floor there were large, 7' tall , display cabinets in every room. Even the bathroom had a display case!

Spread out on two tables were some of the more attractive, expensive pieces.

I immediately zoomed in on a gem I collect, benitoite, the very rare California state gem, and scooped it up.

It's worth about $1000, but I may cut it up into several smaller specimens because they would be easier to sell.

I also picked up these beautiful pariaba tourmalines from Brazil. The most valuable variation of tourmaline.

There is also an aquamarine or two in there and possibly an emerald.

A jar full of yellow, fluorapatite crystals.

And many more minerals.

I ended up walking away with a box of valuable minerals at wholesale costs, while my friend walked away with 10x as much as I did. So it looks like despite my failure to hunt rocks the day before, Monday was an epic hunt, full of treasures!

Thanks for reading!